Runners

Virginia

Virginia peanuts are probably some of the most recognizable because if you ever eat store bought peanuts in the shell, they are probably Virginia peanuts. The reason they choose these peanuts is because of their size.

Spanish

Spanish peanuts are smaller. They have a red and brown skin on them, and you would most likely recognize them if you ever eat peanut candies. Because of how small they are, they are great for candy use.

Valencia

If you like boiled peanuts then you are familiar with Valencia peanuts. They have 3 or more kernels inside the shell. Then they are most noticeable for their bright red skin.

How to Grow Peanuts

Growing peanuts really isn’t as difficult as you might think. Follow a few basic steps, and you should be well on your way to raising a crop of peanuts.

The biggest thing to know about raising peanuts is that they take anywhere from 100-130 days and those days must be free of frost. This makes growing peanuts a bit of challenge in the northern climates.

But if you start them early enough, place them on a south facing piece of land while growing, and add some crop covers you might still have a chance.

1. Planting

Starting Indoors

Because peanuts take so long to grow, if you live in northern climates, you may have to start them indoors.

If you do this, you’ll need to plant the raw peanuts in a plastic bowl that has some depth to it. You’ll need to fill the bowl about 2/3 deep with potting soil. Make sure the soil is moist.

Next, you’ll need to plant the raw peanuts to where they are about 4 inches deep and only plant about 4 peanuts.

Then you’ll want to completely cover the peanuts with soil. When the peanuts have sprouted you’ll need to transplant them.

Starting Outdoors

When planting outdoors, you’ll need to place your peanut seeds about 2 inches deep and 8 inches apart in loose soil. This is important because of how they grow. If the soil is too tight and not well drained, then they’ll struggle to grow.

2. Cultivate the Plants

Once your plants have reached 6 inches tall it is time to cultivate around each plant. This is to make it easier for the plant to spread out and grow.

3. Hill the Plants

Once you’ve cultivated your plants, you’ll need to hill them. This basically means to build up a mound of mulch around the plants. This is to protect the roots.

5. Harvest Your Peanuts

When you harvest your peanuts, you’ll need to do it before the frost hits. You’ll pull up the entire plant after cultivating with a garden fork and shake off any excess dirt.

Finally, hang up the plants inside to dry so then you can eat them after they have dried completely.

How to Care for Your Peanuts

Peanuts don’t need an excessive amount of care. Keep these three things in mind, and your plants should hopefully be happy, healthy, and productive:

1. Don’t Cultivate Too Harshly

Peanut plants are rather shallow plants. The peanuts form right at the surface of the plant. So when you cultivate your plants, be sure not to do this too deeply because you could potentially upset the peanuts that are forming and wreck your harvest.

2. Water Regularly

Your peanut plants will need to be watered regularly, as most plants do. Be sure to water them weekly until you know that the soil is dampened down to 6-8 inches below the soil.

Once you know this, you can get away with watering a little less. The best way to measure this would just be to stick your finger in the soil around the plant. If it is wet enough, then you know you’ve watered adequately.

3. Mulch Your Plants

Mulch is a great friend of the gardener. The reason is that it helps to hold moisture in around your plants and also smothers out weeds.

So use mulch around your peanut plants. It will allow ample moisture to remain near the plant and also stop weeds from taking over around your plants.

Peanut Problems

Peanuts seem like a fairly easy plant to grow. The only downside is that they have a lot of insects that enjoy them as much as we do. Here are some problems to be on the lookout for:

Leaf Hoppers

Leaf hoppers are little bugs that hop from plant to plant. They spread disease and cause plants to begin to yellow as well.

Solution: The best way to control leaf hoppers is to control weeds and to cover your plants with floating row covers if you know that you have leaf hoppers. This way they can’t jump from plant to plant.

Wireworms

Wireworms are dark brown and pale yellow. They feed on the roots of the peanut plant.

Solution: You’ll want to control this pest with beneficial nematodes as well.

Best and Worst Companion Plants

Peanuts have certain plants that it should be planted near and others that it should not be planted near. The plants that it likes are potatoes and beets.

However, there are other plants like corn and pole beans that should not be planted near peanuts. The reason is that they provide too much shade and hinder plant growth.

So try to keep taller plants away from your peanut plant in order to see optimum growth.

How to Store Your Peanuts

Once your peanuts have dried after harvest, you’ll need to decide how to store them. If you shell them they last only a matter of weeks in a refrigerated area.

However, if you leave them in the shells they can last on your pantry shelves for months. But the way to preserve your peanuts the longest is by leaving them in the shell and placing them in a freezer bag.

If you do this, peanuts should last up to one whole year in the freezer.

How to Use Your Peanuts

Spicy Peanuts

If you’ve ever had spicy peanuts, you probably love them. I say this because with all of the amazing seasonings, how could you not?

So if you’d like to have a healthier homemade snack that can be easily whipped together, then you’ll want to check out this recipe.

Peanut Brittle

When I found this recipe, my mouth immediately began to water. One of my favorite snacks since childhood has been homemade peanut brittle.

One of my oldest memories was eating this amazing treat at my great grandmother’s house. So make some of your own memories and try this delicious recipe.

Thai Peanut Chicken

After eating dinner at a friend’s house where she made this killer Thai Peanut Chicken recipe, I learned I love to add peanuts to my dinner recipe. It adds this great crunch.

So when I saw this recipe and saw that it could be done in a slow cooker, I was sold. You might enjoy it too.

DIY Peanut Butter

When I saw how easy it was to make my own peanut butter, I wondered why in the world I had been buying it for all of these years.

So if you love peanut butter as much as I do, then you’ll definitely want to try this recipe and tutorial and give your own DIY peanut butter a try.

Well, now you know how to:

grow peanuts;

care for peanut plants;

what to look out for when growing peanuts; and

use your peanuts!

But I’d love to hear your thoughts. What has your experience been with growing your own peanuts? Do you enjoy it? Do you think they taste any different?

We’d love to hear from you so please be sure to leave us your thoughts in the space provided below.